Nannotrigona mellaria ( Smith, 1862 )

Jaramillo, Joanna, Ospina, Rodulfo & Gonzalez, Victor H., 2019, Stingless bees of the genus Nannotrigona Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apidae Meliponini) in Colombia, Zootaxa 4706 (2), pp. 349-365 : 357-358

Nannotrigona mellaria ( Smith, 1862)

Figure 2

Trigona mellarius Smith, 1862: 42 [lectotype: BMNH; worker, Panama]

Diagnosis. This species can be recognized by the antennal scape with long erect setae (1.5× width of scape) and mesoscutellum with a median emargination deep and semicircular. It resembles N. melanocera in the scape with long setae, but it can be separated by the mesoscutellum with much wider median emargination on its posterior margin (shallow and about as wide as axillae in N. melanocera ). From N. tristella , it can be distinguished by the features indicated in the key.

Distribution. This species occurs in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. In Colombia, this species is found in the Andean and Caribbean regions ( Fig. 2 ), thus occurring in sympatry with N. gaboi and N. tristella .

Comments. Martinez et al. (2017) studied the nesting sites and local distribution of species of Nannotrigona in Cali , Valle del Cauca, which they identified as N. mellaria . Given the existence of other species of the genus in the same area, the identity of that species from Cali studied by these authors needs to be confirmed.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Collection localities of Nannotrigona Cockerell in Colombia.